Nazi exploitation

Nazi exploitation (also Nazisploitation) is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves villainous Nazis committing criminal acts of a sexual nature often as camp or prison overseers in World War II settings. Most follow the standard women in prison formula, only relocated to a death camp or Nazi brothel, with an added emphasis on sadism, gore, and degradation. The most infamous and influential title (and the one that set the standards of the genre) is perhaps Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1974), a Canadian production. Its surprise success and sequels led European film makers, mostly in Italy, to produce dozens of similar films depicting Nazi atrocities. While the Ilsa series and Salon Kitty were profitable, the other films were mostly box-office flops and the genre all but vanished by the mid 1980s.

In Italy, these films are known as part of the "il sadiconazista" cycle which is largely inspired by the art-house films Salon Kitty by Tinto Brass, Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter, and Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò. Prominent directors of the genre include Paolo Solvay (La Bestia in Calore, aka The Beast in Heat, SS Hell Camp), Cesare Canevari (L'ultima orgia del III Reich, aka Last Orgy of the Third Reich), and Alain Payet (Train spécial pour SS, aka Hitler's Lust Train, Love Train for The SS), all from 1977.

History

A blend of sexual imagery and Nazi themes was pioneered by Italian directors and can be found as early as 1945 in Rome, Open...... ...
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